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NHL Rumors Update
NHL Rumors Update for 03/11/2020
The latest NHL rumors from The Hockey Writers.
03/11/2020 edition:
By Jim Parsons on Mar 11, 2020 12:41 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is news the Toronto Maple Leafs are grounding their scouts thanks to the Coronavirus outbreak, there is speculation the Montreal Canadiens might be interested in a couple of free agents and there are questions as to what type of insurance the NHL has if events get cancelled due to the virus causing games to be played with no fans, moved or postponed? Finally, what happens to the NHL salary cap next season if multiple games are affected?
Canadiens to Pursue a Couple of Big Free Agents?
TVA Sports posted a piece asking if the Montreal Canadiens might consider going after Detroit Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha via an offer sheet this summer. It was already confirmed by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun that Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin won’t shy away from offer sheets if he feels there’s a good fit.
Mantha will become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer, but he’s also a risk due to his injury history.
They also wonder if perhaps Corey Crawford would be a good fit as a backup goaltender in Montreal? TVA Sports Felix Seguin suggests Crawford can still deliver excellent performances and as a Montreal native, has played well against the hometown Canadiens. Crawford also worked with goalie coach Stephane Waite. There’s still the issue of Crawford’s salary, whether or not he’s willing to play a backup role and the term he wants on his next contract.
Maple Leafs Have Grounded Scouts
The Toronto Maple Leafs have grounded their scouts from flying to games amid growing concerns about the spread of COVID-19, and it is believed a handful of other NHL teams have enacted similar measures with their scouts.
It started with the Leafs banning travel for European-based scouts when the outbreak hit but they’ve now expanded that ban to amateur and professional scouts here in North America.
NHL’s Event Cancellation Insurance Policy?
There are questions starting to pop up about what kind of insurance, if any, the NHL has if events like the games potentially taking place in San Jose get altered? The league as a whole could be insured differently than its teams and policies from team-to-team could vary, particularly when talking about the American franchises versus the Canadian ones.
Ryan Tocicki, president of Los Angeles-based Premier Insurance Services, has said most leagues opt to pay for coverage for “communicable disease-related losses.” He added, unfortunately, “It is important to note, however, that losses resulting from ‘threat or fear of communicable disease’ are typically excluded under event cancellation policies.” What this means, while not confirmed, is that the NHL may not have chosen to cancel or move games but when ordered to, followed instructions because the insurance may have kicked in at that point.
Teams are taking a big hit when games are canceled or tickets aren’t usable and recovering potential losses through insurance becomes important.
Coronavirus to Affect Salary Cap?
There are also the concerns about how the economic losses could affect the salary cap moving forward. If enough games are canceled or affected, NHL players will be responsible for a rebate to ensure a 50-50 split between players and owners because the amount they have collected in paycheques will represent more than what the owners receive.
As Frank Seravalli of TSN writes, “There is a provision in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that any money owed to the owners by players in excess of what was collected in this season’s escrow account comes directly off what is owed to the players next season – thus reducing the salary cap.” In others words, if enough games are canceled and the owner’s pocketbooks affected, the players have to make up for it out of next season’s salaries which could hurt that potential jump everyone talked about.
The post NHL Rumors: Maple Leafs, Canadiens, NHL Insurance and Cap Issues appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on Mar 10, 2020 01:55 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, there is good news for the Toronto Maple Leafs as their top defenseman is back, the San Jose Sharks are going to have to figure out how to play three games in the month of March that will be affected by a Coronavirus ban and the Edmonton Oilers are in hot water with their coach after a number of poor offensive outings. And, what is the latest on Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s injury?
Morgan Rielly Returns to Lineup
A struggling Maple Leafs team will get some much-needed help Tuesday night as defenseman Morgan Rielly will return to the lineup after missing 23 games with a broken foot.
It wasn’t 100% clear after yesterday’s media conference that Rielly would be back as both he and coach Sheldon Keefe said they needed to see how responded to yesterday’s practice before confirming he’d slot in. Still, both were confident and he’ll join Cody Ceci among the list of returning players trying to help the Maple Leafs secure a playoff spot.
Keefe called Rielly one of the few vocal leaders on the team and the Maple Leafs will need his talent and his energy if they’re going to make waves in the last 11 games.
Related: Do You Know Your Bruins Trivia?
San Jose Sharks to Have Games Canceled?
Santa Clara County has implemented a mandatory ban on all large gatherings and that ban will include and apply to San Jose Sharks games planned for the SAP Center.
The ban, which will begin at midnight on Wednesday, will span three weeks and affect three Sharks games. The Sharks official website posted the following statement:
SAP Center at San Jose is aware of the County of Santa Clara’s Public Health Department order to prohibit public and private mass gatherings through the end of March. We will adhere to the mandated guidelines. No events are scheduled at SAP Center until Tues., March 17. We will be reviewing each scheduled event due to take place for the rest of the month and provide an update in the coming days. We appreciate the understanding and patience of our fans, guests and partners during this unprecedented time.
The NHL has yet to comment on the matter and if alternate sites will be found to play those games or the games will be made up at a later time and date. TSN’s Frank Seravalli notes that the three options: the Sharks can play with no fans, play at a neutral site or postpone the games. As Seravalli notes, the Sharks have lots of time to figure it out as they’re headed out on the road for nine days.
The biggest area of concern seems to be what happens if more than just the San Jose market enacts similar restrictions.
Related: San Jose Sharks: A Brief History
Brouwer and Ness Waived on Tuesday
Today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that both Troy Brouwer and Aaron Ness have been placed on waivers by their respective clubs.
In the case of Ness it appears, according to Craig Morgan of The Athletic tweets, the Arizona Coyotes are expecting Jakob Chychrun back this week and while their wasn’t a need to make room, Ness is eligible to play for the Tucson Roadrunners and is better used there versus with the Coyotes.
Oilers Planning to Shake Things Up?
Despite being second in the Pacific Division, having great odds to make the playoffs an picking up points in their last number of games, the Edmonton Oilers look completely out of sorts, according to head coach Dave Tippett.
Tippett said of their performance on Monday:
“This is as disconnected as we’ve been in a long time. And it’s not just tonight’s game I’m talking about, it’s a number of games. We can’t continue to play like that and feel like we’re a good team,”
The Oilers have been out-shot by a margin of 94 to 48 in their last two games and the belief is that if Tippett can’t get some things fixed in practice, they’ll be sitting some players. The last two games, goaltender Mikko Koskinen has been stellar, but to rely on that continuing is dangerous.
Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid missed last night’s game with an illness but it isn’t expected he’ll be out long-term.
Latest on Kotkaniemi’s Injury Situation
Eric Engels reports that Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien has updated fans on the Jesperi Kotkaniemi spleen injury and said he was able to leave the Cleveland hospital after one day.
Engels adds that Kotkaniemi didn’t have surgery and there is no timeline for his recovery just yet. He’ll be meeting with the Canadiens doctors for further evaluation.
The post NHL Rumors: Maple Leafs, Sharks, Oilers, Canadiens, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
By Jim Parsons on Mar 09, 2020 02:06 pm
In today’s NHL rumor rundown, Elliotte Friedman spoke the chances Mathew Barzal might get an offer sheet this summer, there is news out of Boston that the Bruins might have to contend with higher offers for defenseman Torey Krug and there are updates on Alex Pietrangelo and the St. Louis Blues.
Offer Sheet to Play Role in Barzal Negotiations?
Elliotte Friedman was recently a guest on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast and said that he believes an offer sheet could play a significant role this summer in the negotiations between the New York Islanders and forward Mathew Barzal.
“Well I do believe, the offer sheets will come,” said Friedman. He added, “The reason I do is because it is so hard to find good players now.”
Friedman noted that with soon-to-be 32 teams and 32 owners, more studies show that offer sheets might be worthy trying and that even if teams don’t ultimately so do, they’re thinking about doing so. “I will tell you this, the Toronto Maple Leafs 100% believed that if Auston Matthews got to July 1st last year, Arizona was gonna offer sheet him 7 years the max,” Friedman said. “I have looked at it and people around the league have told me they believe that to be the case.”
Friedman added there were also strong rumors indicating the Columbus Blue Jackets tried to offer sheet Mitch Marner but he wanted a shorter-term deal and they weren’t willing to make an offer of four or five years.
Will Increased Salary Cap Affect Pietrangelo Talks?
Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic wrote in a recent mailbag article that an increased salary cap might not really change what the St. Louis Blues are willing to offer defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. Even if other teams can pay more to pry him loose, the Blues will likely still offer around $8.5 – $9 million annually.
Rutherford writes:
As far as your point about the cap increase making it easier for everybody to offer Pietrangelo more, that’s a valid point. But I think there’s probably only a few clubs that can afford a $10 million AAV for which Pietrangelo would also agree to play. And if those teams will give him $10 million, will he leave if the Blues’ offer was a little less? I don’t know.
If Pietrangelo walks, Rutherford believes the Blues will simply promote Colton Parayko over trying to land another big-name defenseman in free agency.
Penguins to Sign O’Connor, Rangers In on Khodorenko
Frank Seravalli of TSN reports that the Pittsburgh Penguins have agreed to a contract with Drew O’Connor, who just finished his sophomore season at Dartmouth. O’Connor was No. 4 on TSN’s top UDFA list.
O’Connor, 21, has scored 21 goals and added 12 assists in 31 games. He recorded 26 points in 34 games last season.
Also, according to Seravalli, the New York Rangers are in on signing undrafted college free agent forward Patrick Khodorenko out of Michigan State. In four seasons at Michigan, Khodrenko appeared in 143 games recording 54 goals, 66 assists and 120 points. In his senior season, the 21-year-old had 16 goals and 33 points.
Will Extra Money Be Available for Torey Krug?
Speaking of salary cap increases, Matt Porter of the Boston Globe notes that the projected increase in the salary cap could create more interested parties in Bruins defenseman Torey Krug. Both Krug and the Bruins want to work out an extension but there’s only so much the Bruins are willing to pay.
The Bruins have to re-sign Krug, Zdeno Chara, Jaroslav Halak, Jake DeBrusk, Matt Grzelcyk, Anders Bjork and Karson Kuhlman and that means around $7 million could be available for Krug. What if another team offers $8 million per season? Would he bite?
There were previous comments from Krug that he was willing to take a hometown discount to stay in Boston but how much is the difference between what the Bruins can and will offer versus what another team might offer that Krug will be ok with?
The post NHL Rumors: Barzal, UDFA’s, Blues, Bruins, More appeared first on The Hockey Writers.
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